Ateneo Art Gallery presents the "Moving Image Program" this February to March: A series of films and talks surrounding the moving image as a medium in contemporary art practice

This year, the Ateneo Art Gallery presents a Moving Image Program featuring a presentation of film, video works, and lectures that explore moving image as a medium in contemporary art practice.

This series of public programs is presented in part of the celebration of National Arts Month, with all sessions free and open to the public:

‘Walang Masulingan’ Screening and Talkback

Kiri Dalena and Ben Brix
19 and 20 February 2026 (Thursday and Friday), 7-9PM
Ignacio B Gimenez Amphitheater, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University
Register now at https://go.ateneo.net/WalangMasulinganAAG

"Walang Masulingan," a collaboration between Kiri Dalena and Ben Brix, is a two-channel video installation that features aerial images and ground-level shots that depict daily life within Metro Manila. The title derives from a conversation with political activist Gelacio Guillermo, who found in poetry a place of solace and refuge during his darkest times. In this work, Dalena and Brix present urban spaces not merely as sites of suffering and political uncertainty, but as places where hope and beauty will always reside.

'Kono Basho’ Screening and Talkback

Jaime Pacena II
12 March 2026 (Thursday), 3:30-5PM
Ben Chan ArtSuite, 2F Ateneo Art Gallery, Soledad V Pangilinan Arts Wing, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University
Register now at https://go.ateneo.net/KonoBasho

In Jaime Pacena II’s Kono Basho, two estranged half-sisters reunite at their father’s funeral. They mend their differences, find solace in shared grief, and become instrumental in the city’s ongoing recovery. 

Featured in the Cinemalaya 2024, the film was recognized for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Actress. The film received 10 nominations from Gawad Urian, winning Best Actress for Arisa Nakano and Best Cinematography. Kono Basho was also cited as Best First Feature at the 35th Young Critics Circle (YCC) Annual Citations for Achievement in Filmmaking.

This event commemorates the 15th anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS AND DIRECTOR

Walang Masulingan

Kiri Dalena is a multimedia artist who lives and works in the Philippines. She works with various media, including sculpture, moving images, photography, and language-based artworks. 

Dalena studied human ecology at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She trained in 16mm filmmaking, focusing on documentary cinematography and poetic filmmaking at the Mowelfund Film Institute (MFI) in Quezon City. 

Dalena works both as an individual artist and as part of collectives. She co-founded the Filipino film collective Southern Tagalog Exposure (2001), where she worked closely with farmers' groups, environmental activists, and organized union groups, documenting their struggle to assert basic rights amid intense militarization. Through long-term collaborations with journalists, lawyers, and human rights organizations, she contributed to the arrest of former General Jovito Palparan Jr., the highest-ranking Philippine military official convicted of human rights violations. 

In 2016, Dalena co-founded RESBAK (Respond and Break the Silence Against the Killings; 2016–present), an international alliance of cultural producers that draws attention to the Philippine government’s “war on drugs” and its effects. To this day, the group continues to work closely with victims and survivors directly impacted by the “war on drugs.” 

Dalena’s practice is grounded in the belief that art is a vocation that plays an essential role in inspiring meaningful change by fostering connections and prompting shifts in how we interpret and confront history, the environment, and society.

Born in 1979 in Bayreuth, Ben Brix lives and works in Berlin as a video artist, video editor, director of photography, and media technician. His artistic journey began with sculpture in Berlin in 2001, before he started studying product design in 2005 at the Kunsthochschule Kassel. In 2008 he joined the class for Virtual Realities led by Bjørn Melhus, focusing on video art, and in 2009 he spent a year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in the class of Constanze Ruhm. He graduated in Kassel in 2013, with his final work presented in Prague as part of the Start Point Prize, and then returned to Berlin. 

Since then, Brix has worked with numerous artists and filmmakers as director of photography, including Bjørn Melhus, Marco Brambilla, Hiwa K, Theo Eshetu, Loretta Fahrenholz, Yael Bartana, Bouchra Khalili, and many others. His own artistic practice, active since 2012, explores the intersection between pure documentation and fiction in moving images, questioning the credibility of images and the ways in which they create meaning. 

Brix is also the co-founder of the theater collective speech collective, where he worked as a video artist on various productions. Together with Felix Mathias Ott, he developed the theater piece Odyssee Complex, which has been shown internationally in Iran, Bangladesh, India, Salzburg, and France. 

In 2017, he began ongoing collaborations with Indian theater producer Nimi Ravindran and sound artist Nikhil Nagaraj in South India. 

Since 2023, he has collaborated with Filipino artist Kiri Dalena on multiple video works in the Philippines, with several more projects in development. Through this collaboration, he has developed a deep interest in the Philippines—particularly in Dalena’s work as an artist and activist, as well as in Filipino culture and its ongoing struggles—an engagement that continues to shape his artistic practice.

Kono Basho

Jaime Pacena II is a versatile creative, active in the fields of visual arts, film, and education. His visual works have been exhibited in the Philippines and abroad. He founded the Bliss Market Laboratory (BMLab), a space that fosters cultural exchange between multimedia artists and students. He teaches at Asia Pacific College and is a curator for CANVAS.PH and Marahuyo Art Projects. He is a participant in the Rikuzentakata Artist Residency Program in Japan. His directorial works also include music videos.

For inquiries, email aag@ateneo.edu